2016-17 Alaska Aces Thread

[Gerbera]

21 hours ago, stonecoldstevebernier said:

The Aces followed up a 5-1 loss yesterday with a 5-4 OT win today. Garteig stopped 21 of 25 shots in the win, and Stewart had his first assist to go along with seven shots on goal. Alaska fired 59 shots in total.

 

59 Shots... even if including OT... that's nearly a shot per minute... they must've played in the opponent's zone the whole night...

[stonecoldstevebernier]

Aces win again today, 4-3 this time. Garteig stops 31 of 34 shots to stay undefeated - and it was his birthday today!

Stewart got tossed from the game after two fights.

[stonecoldstevebernier]

Another win for the Aces, 5-1; Garteig didn't play this one. Danny Moynihan gets his first pro goal in the win.

[stonecoldstevebernier]

The Aces followed up a 5-1 win on Wednesday with a 3-2 SO loss today. Garteig didn't play today but he did stop 28 of 29 shots on Wednesday, and is still undefeated in his career; Danny Moynihan had one assist in today's game.

[ShakyWalton]

9 hours ago, stonecoldstevebernier said:

The Aces followed up a 5-1 win on Wednesday with a 3-2 SO loss today. Garteig didn't play today but he did stop 28 of 29 shots on Wednesday, and is still undefeated in his career; Danny Moynihan had one assist in today's game.

Aces are off to a pretty good start and Garteig is getting lots of ice..Demko on the other hand ..not so much playing behind Bachman.

[stonecoldstevebernier]

5-0 win for the Aces tonight, Garteig makes 36 saves for the shutout. Two goals for Danny Moynihan as well.

[stonecoldstevebernier]

Another win for the Aces today, this time 6-4. Garteig played again and stopped 40 of 44 (and also recorded an assist!) to improve his record to 7-1. Danny Moynihan added another goal.

[ShakyWalton]

1 hour ago, stonecoldstevebernier said:

Another win for the Aces today, this time 6-4. Garteig played again and stopped 40 of 44 (and also recorded an assist!) to improve his record to 7-1. Danny Moynihan added another goal.

Garteig is getting alot of work and playing well...Demko hardly gets any game action..he needs more playing time to improve.

[tyhee]

2 hours ago, ShakyWalton said:

Garteig is getting alot of work and playing well...Demko hardly gets any game action..he needs more playing time to improve.

Through yesterday, Demko had appeared in 7 games, 369.5 minutes, and gets hardly any game action.  Garteig had appeared in 7 games, 418 minutes, and is getting a lot of work.  Demko is sharing time with Bachman, Garteig is the #1 guy in Anchorage.

 

Are you suggesting switching Demko and Garteig? 

 

Demko hasn't been so impressive as to merit more time than he's getting.  When he's struggling, as he has been, there is plenty of merit to not overworking him while he's working on his technique.  A goalie can develop, especially while undergoing technical changes, with moderate playing time.  More play at this stage, while he's been struggling, could lower his confidence and hurt his development.

 

So right now, I don't agree he needs more playing time to improve. 

[ShakyWalton]

21 minutes ago, tyhee said:

Through yesterday, Demko had appeared in 7 games, 369.5 minutes, and gets hardly any game action.  Garteig had appeared in 7 games, 418 minutes, and is getting a lot of work.  Demko is sharing time with Bachman, Garteig is the #1 guy in Anchorage.

 

Are you suggesting switching Demko and Garteig? 

 

Demko hasn't been so impressive as to merit more time than he's getting.  When he's struggling, as he has been, there is plenty of merit to not overworking him while he's working on his technique.  A goalie can develop, especially while undergoing technical changes, with moderate playing time.  More play at this stage, while he's been struggling, could lower his confidence and hurt his development.

 

So right now, I don't agree he needs more playing time to improve. 

Nope,,not suggesting switching the two at all.....you could be right about playing time...just seems to me Demko isnt as far along as Garteig..although the ECHL isnt the AHL..he seems to be relied upon being the #1 ...I didnt realize that Bachman and Demko were so close in games..as Bachman has started  only 2 more than Thatcher.

[stonecoldstevebernier]

4 hours ago, ShakyWalton said:

Garteig is getting alot of work and playing well...Demko hardly gets any game action..he needs more playing time to improve.

If Bachman has to miss time, you may very well get your wish. Still no word on his condition, but the Comets don't play til Wednesday so there's time for him heal up. Otherwise Demko should be given the reins to run with for a bit.

[canucklehead44]

Wow Garteig is already 25 years old. 

ECHL affiliations seem pretty much useless now. Last year we had Blomstrand/Valk/Fox putting up numbers and they hardly ever got called up. Instead we signed a bunch of randoms to PTOs.Valk is also a productive AHL player which makes things even stranger.  It doesn't seem to be used to have scorers play first line minutes for callups to the AHL. 

This year we only have Garteig and Mackenze as prospects. Even look at Stephen Perfetto - crazy numbers, but goes to San Antonio instead. 

Players like Cassels and Saunter might be better served played huge minutes in the ECHL for example, and getting regular call ups. 
 

[stonecoldstevebernier]

The Aces went a perfect 3-0 this weekend, with Kevin Carr covering for Garteig in all three games. Moynihan had a goal and an assist over the weekend and Stewart got his first goal of the year on Friday.

[stonecoldstevebernier]

Overdue Aces update: the Aces are 24-14-6 so far and sit fourth in their division with 28 games to go. Garteig is 2-4-1 since returning from Utica and has been playing in tandem with Kevin Carr.

Danny Moynihan: 43 GP 13-16-29

Mackenze Stewart: 44 GP 2-4-6

Yan-Pavel Laplante: 10 GP 1-1-2

Michael Garteig: 9-5-1, 3.14 GAA, .906 save pct, 1 shutout.

[73 Percent]

2 hours ago, stonecoldstevebernier said:

Overdue Aces update: the Aces are 24-14-6 so far and sit fourth in their division with 28 games to go. Garteig is 2-4-1 since returning from Utica and has been playing in tandem with Kevin Carr.

Danny Moynihan: 43 GP 13-16-29

Mackenze Stewart: 44 GP 2-4-6

Yan-Pavel Laplante: 10 GP 1-1-2

Michael Garteig: 9-5-1, 3.14 GAA, .906 save pct, 1 shutout.

Unimpressive numbers in an Unimpressive league. Nothing to see here.

[UticaHockey]

9 hours ago, Gooseberries said:

Unimpressive numbers in an Unimpressive league. Nothing to see here.

It does make you wonder why Laplante (and Carcone for that matter) were signed to NHL contracts.  Did they really think either one of these guys would have been scooped up underneath them if they had tried to sign them to AHL deals instead.  Two of fifty contracts tied up for two more years.  

[73 Percent]

15 minutes ago, UticaHockey said:

It does make you wonder why Laplante (and Carcone for that matter) were signed to NHL contracts.  Did they really think either one of these guys would have been scooped up underneath them if they had tried to sign them to AHL deals instead.  Two of fifty contracts tied up for two more years.  

There is no move that this franchise will make that can surprise me anymore lol 

[UTICANUCK]

You sign these guys because every once in awhile there is a David DeSharnais in the bunch, a 5-7 undersized 20 year old who rips it up in the ECHL, does the same in the AHL, and goes onto have a solid career in the NHL.  Or worse case, someone like LaPlante could become a Brendan Defazio who becomes a solid AHL scorer that fills your roster and helps provide your true prospects with a winning environment. Some guys are late bloomers, some guys get super-motivated to prove someone (or everyone) wrong.

[UticaHockey]

56 minutes ago, UTICANUCK said:

You sign these guys because every once in awhile there is a David DeSharnais in the bunch, a 5-7 undersized 20 year old who rips it up in the ECHL, does the same in the AHL, and goes onto have a solid career in the NHL.  Or worse case, someone like LaPlante could become a Brendan Defazio who becomes a solid AHL scorer that fills your roster and helps provide your true prospects with a winning environment. Some guys are late bloomers, some guys get super-motivated to prove someone (or everyone) wrong.

It's a big stretch to compare David Desharnais to either Michael Carcone or Yan-Pavel Leplante.  Desharnais put up big numbers in juniors in each of his final three seasons and also put up solid numbers in his first season.  So he showed that he could compete very well against both his peers and against kids older than him.  I don't know the whole story but I would guess that he wasn't drafted because of his size and even with the big numbers that he consistently put up in juniors he didn't sign his first NHL contract until he spent a full season in the ECHL.

 

Michael Carcone only had a breakout season in his final year of juniors when he was playing primarily against younger competition.  The story for Yan-Pavel Laplante is even worse as he didn't really do that much in juniors until his overage season as a 20 year old.  Laplante has shown nothing in Utica or now Alaska other than he has hands of stone and is an occasional willing combatant but Travis Green coached hockey teams do not place any emphasis on fighters.  

 

Both of these guys are worth a look at the pro level but on AHL contracts while they adjust to the pro game in the ECHL.  The exact path that Danny Moynihan is currently on and Curtis Valk has progressed from.  You would think that Benning would have learned from wasting a NHL contract on Mackenze Stewart to start these low potential prospects off on AHL deals first to see if they are worth using up a limited number of NHL contracts.  

[JamesB]

On 2/5/2017 at 5:13 PM, stonecoldstevebernier said:

Overdue Aces update: the Aces are 24-14-6 so far and sit fourth in their division with 28 games to go. Garteig is 2-4-1 since returning from Utica and has been playing in tandem with Kevin Carr.

Danny Moynihan: 43 GP 13-16-29

Mackenze Stewart: 44 GP 2-4-6

Yan-Pavel Laplante: 10 GP 1-1-2

Michael Garteig: 9-5-1, 3.14 GAA, .906 save pct, 1 shutout.

 

On 2/6/2017 at 8:05 AM, UticaHockey said:

It's a big stretch to compare David Desharnais to either Michael Carcone or Yan-Pavel Leplante.  Desharnais put up big numbers in juniors in each of his final three seasons and also put up solid numbers in his first season.  So he showed that he could compete very well against both his peers and against kids older than him.  I don't know the whole story but I would guess that he wasn't drafted because of his size and even with the big numbers that he consistently put up in juniors he didn't sign his first NHL contract until he spent a full season in the ECHL.

 

Michael Carcone only had a breakout season in his final year of juniors when he was playing primarily against younger competition.  The story for Yan-Pavel Laplante is even worse as he didn't really do that much in juniors until his overage season as a 20 year old.  Laplante has shown nothing in Utica or now Alaska other than he has hands of stone and is an occasional willing combatant but Travis Green coached hockey teams do not place any emphasis on fighters.  

 

Both of these guys are worth a look at the pro level but on AHL contracts while they adjust to the pro game in the ECHL.  The exact path that Danny Moynihan is currently on and Curtis Valk has progressed from.  You would think that Benning would have learned from wasting a NHL contract on Mackenze Stewart to start these low potential prospects off on AHL deals first to see if they are worth using up a limited number of NHL contracts.  

Glad to see the updates on the Aces. I have checked out the numbers a few times myself but could not generate enough energy to right anything down. I could say that the problem is that there is nothing going on with the Aces to get excited about. But that would be an understatement. There is not much that generates even slight interest. You would hope that someone on the Aces might have emerged as being good enough to help Utica, but not even that much has happened.

 

Right now, there is no one on Utica who looks like a good prospect to ever be anything more than a marginal NHL player and Utica is struggling. Canuck prospects had a truly dismal year at the World Juniors (all two of them), and there are no prospects in Alaska who even rise to the level of being longshots. At least Boeser and Gaudette in the NCAA are good prospects.

 

I am not sure if other NHL teams have interesting prospects in the ECHL. I note that Dane Fox is scoring quite a lot in the ECHL this year (21 goals and 30 assists in 48 games).